


Parents' Day

by Fabrisse



Series: Rebuilding the Table [19]
Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-21 23:38:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3707573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daisy's nursery school has a parents' day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parents' Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Iris_Reid92](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iris_Reid92/gifts).



> Yes. More fluff.

Merlin was waiting when they got home. He'd been detained at headquarters, so Eggsy had picked up Daisy from school and taken her to a local Turkish restaurant for dinner. The proprietors loved him since he practiced his Turkish with them, and Daisy had been a big hit with the wait staff.

Daisy ran to him, and he picked her up.

"Thought you were going to be later. Could've picked up take-away or something." Eggsy said. He kissed Merlin on the cheek. "Did you eat?"

"Just made some cheese toast. Comfort food."

"Merlin. You're coming to school with me next week," Daisy said suddenly. She scrambled off his lap and went to where she dropped her school bag.

"Put it away properly," Eggsy said.

Daisy nodded as she rummaged through the bag. Finally, she pulled out a somewhat rumpled paper and handed it to Merlin. "See."

"Parents' Day." He raised an eyebrow at Eggsy. "And how did I get delegated for this task?"

"She told me I couldn't go."

Merlin blinked at him, then turned to Daisy. "Why can't Eggsy go?"

She shook her head at him. "Eggsy's a brother," she scoffed. "Brothers aren't parents."

Eggsy was looking smug. "No, I didn't tell her that," he said to a skeptical Merlin. "This is what she's figured out all on her own."

Merlin lifted her onto the sofa beside him and said, "So…"

"You'll come?"

"I…"

"Before you say anything, Roxy and I are running comms next Thursday. Cleared with Arthur and all. The Witches want pictures."

Merlin turned to Daisy. "Yes, I'm happy to come. I'm just surprised that you'd ask me instead of Eggsy."

"I told you," she sounded exasperated. "Brothers aren't parents. You are."

He didn't trust himself to speak for a moment. He stroked her hair gently and said, "Thank you for the lovely compliment."

***  
When Merlin took her to school the following Thursday, he was pleased to see that most of the children were dragging at least one parent along, and, while women predominated, he was far from the only man. 

The day was structured so that the children would have a normal morning, and the parents would be told about the school's policies and needs. The latter half of the morning would be a chance for parents to get to know each other and meet with the teachers briefly. Everyone would lunch together. Afterward, the children would show their parents their projects, and there would be a brief presentation by the children before an afternoon sports day which he mostly planned to sit out.

The first part of the morning wasn't so bad. There was the expected plea for donations from the head of school and the amount she was asking was well within the parameters he and Eggsy had discussed. He added an extra £50 -- still within their discussed limits -- because one of the programs the head had talked about was Daisy's favorite, the cooking lessons. 

Meeting and mixing with the other parents proved more challenging. He wasn't used to discussions of money as a gauge for success. At least two parents tried to patronize him for being in IT support -- which was as close as he was going to get to explaining what he actually did. Several of the single mothers were flirting, which was easy enough to ignore or turn down politely and at least one of the committed mothers was very handsy. 

But the worst part was how many of the parents were made uncomfortable by the fact that Eggsy was Daisy's brother, which left them wondering who he was to Daisy. "Joint custodian" would be accurate, but not particularly helpful and claiming any other title would be, at best, misleading.

It was a relief when he got his few minutes to talk with Daisy's teachers. They gave him written reports that he'd review with Eggsy later, but overall, they seemed pleased to have Daisy in their activities and thought her very polite. 

One of the teachers, Miss Salford, took him aside and said, "She can read. She's the first of her group who does. Daisy will show it off a bit, but overall, she's very nice about it. Did you know she was reading?"

"I knew that she'd begun to read me her stories more than having me read to her, but, I admit, I assumed she had them memorized. We've been working on sounding things out."

The teacher dimpled at him. "She probably does have them memorized. I know it's counter-intuitive, but you need to buy her some simpler books for awhile so that she can practice her skills."

"Thank you, Miss Salford. We shall."

She hesitated a moment. "Daisy may also not have let you know that she's reading because she wants to keep the closeness or the bedtime story, so think about starting to read her chapter books. That way she still has the excuse to come to you, and the simple books are for her independence."

"I understand."

She went on to the next parent, and he noticed she found one unique thing to tell each parent about his or her child.

***  
Lunch proved to be a bit of a minefield. 

Daisy came running up to him near tears clutching his legs. He was able to pick her up and find a chair to settle in that was still visible to everyone, but had some privacy. "What's the problem, little one?"

"Gillian said you weren't supposed to be here because you're not a real parent. She said if you were a real parent, I wouldn't call you Merlin I'd call you 'dad'." She buried her face in his shoulder, and he could feel her sobbing.

When it began to ebb, he tilted her head up and said, "This is something to talk about, not cry about. Do you want me to call Eggsy? We'll have to keep it secret that we're talking."

She nodded.

He clicked the contact on his glasses and said, "Beaumains, are you busy?"

"No. Lancelot and I have just completed our third game of chess. Beat her every time."

"Well ask Arthur if you can take a break and use tech for a few minutes."

"Roxy's taking care of it, Merlin. What's up?"

Daisy waved in Merlin's face and Eggsy said, "Tell her I said 'hello,' will you?"

Merlin passed it along and brought Daisy close enough that he could put an earbud in, so she could hear Eggsy. "I've looped her in, so keep the profanity down."

"Got it." Daisy giggled to hear Eggsy's voice.

Merlin looked her directly in the eyes and said, "Now tell Eggsy what you told me."

She did.

Eggsy asked, "If you're worried that I'll care what she calls ya, you're mental. I've known you were her Dad for a while."

Daisy said, "What's Dean? He said he was my dad, but…"

"But what?" Merlin asked gently.

"I don't like him."

"Neither do I," she heard Eggsy say.

"Tell Eggsy goodbye."

"Bye. Tell Roxy, bye."

"See you tonight."

"Shall we get lunch?"

Daisy nodded, but made no move to get off his lap. "Is Dean my dad?"

Merlin thought for a moment. "You wouldn't be here without Dean, so he's your father. In my opinion, he is not your dad because he's never done the things I associate with the word. Like, I've never seen him play with you." He tried not to shudder at what Dean might consider playing. "Has he?"

"No. I miss Mum sometimes."

"Do you want to see her more often?"

Daisy shook her head, but stayed thoughtful. "You play with me. You read to me. You held my hair when I'd had too much cake at Mary's birthday party."

"Yes. I don't like to see you sick."

"Is it okay to call you Dad?"

Merlin nodded. "Very okay, if it's what you want to call me, not just because of Gillian."

She wrapped her arms around his neck in such a fierce hug, he was afraid for his air supply. "You're my dad," she whispered in his ear.

Merlin said, "Fair enough then. We'd better get lunch. I'm famished."

"I'm ravishing."

Merlin did his best to keep from laughing. "What do you think you just said?"

"It means I'm very hungry."

"The word you want is ravenous. They do sound a lot alike."

Daisy looked puzzled as she tugged him over to a table. "What did I say?"

"You said 'ravishing' which means beautiful. You are, but I didn't think it was what you meant."

She smiled up at him. "Thank you, Daddy."

***  
Merlin was positive that Daisy had the most tuneful voice in the group of pre-school singers. After all, both Eggsy and Elaine would sing around the house and they had lovely voices. He had already praised her plant in a cup which they would apparently be planting out of doors soon. He had seen her latest finger paint masterpiece, and picked out which yarn project was hers. (It was easy; she was going through an orange period.)

What he hadn't counted on was how insistent she'd be that he run in the Father's Race. He'd been prepared to disappoint her until he'd heard one of the other fathers talk about needing a separate race for the men because the women would never be able to keep up -- after all, they couldn't keep up in business. 

Merlin smiled at Daisy and said, "Since you insist, I'll run." He was pleased by her big grin.

He left his jacket with her and left Daisy with the nice teacher from earlier and rolled up his sleeves as he went to take his place on the starter line. They were to run twice around the large field which he made at just barely a half mile total. He smiled blandly at the much younger father who had been saying such stupid things -- and who was now making pointed remarks about men who were past it -- and took off like a shot when the bell was rung to start the race.

He managed both laps in a very short time and waited politely for the rest to cross the finish line. He accepted the certificate for having won and walked back to Daisy who had wrapped herself up in his coat and was jumping up and down.

"I knew you'd win!" she said.

"I appreciate your confidence in me." Merlin turned to the teacher and said, "Is it all right if we leave now? I don't want to do anything I shouldn't."

"It's fine, Mister McKnight. Good night, Daisy."

"Good night, Miss Salford," she said.

Eggsy and Roxy were waiting on the pavement outside the school. He kissed Roxy's cheek and kissed Eggsy on the mouth. 

The braying idiot from earlier said, "I should have known you were…"

Merlin said, "I'll just be a minute," to the rest of them and went over.

"Should have known I was what?" he said, fixing the man with a look that had made candidates rethink their life choices.

The man swallowed hard. "Nothing."

Merlin nodded. "Let me be very clear. My Da… daughter will grow up to be a woman. I don't like her hearing from men like you that women are inferior. But I will also tell you that if I hear you talking that way in front of her again, I will not do anything. I will leave that to Roxy," he smiled in their direction, and Roxy and Eggsy waved. "Trust me. When it comes to women's rights, I'm the soft option." 

He smiled at the man pleasantly and walked over to his family.


End file.
